MELANIE LIDMAN
From the Roman crusaders sacking Jerusalem in 70 CE to 176 professionals streaking down the streets of the capital in an Italian race on Friday in 2018, “we are completing a circle we never could have dreamed about 2 000 years ago”, he said.
The Giro d’Italia is the second-most prestigious road cycling race after the Tour de France, and many people involved in the race are hoping that the excitement over it gets more Israelis onto their bikes.
The first three days of the 21-day race will take place in Israel, the first time the race’s start will take place outside of Europe.
The first three race stages consist of a 10km time trial in Jerusalem, a 167km race from Haifa to Tel Aviv, and a 226km race from Beersheba to Eilat. Afterwards, the 176 riders from 22 teams will fly to Italy to ride the remaining 18 stages of the race, finishing in Rome.
The event is the single most expensive sporting event in the country’s history, said Culture and Sport Minister Miri Regev. “Israel is showing that it is not just about cyber and high-tech but also joining the international arena in sport,” she said on Wednesday.
The three-day cycling race costs an estimated NIS 120 million (R420 million). Various ministries, including the Tourism Ministry and Transportation Ministry, provided about NIS 30 million (R105 million) for the race, the most that the state has ever invested in a single sporting event, said Regev.
Billionaire Canadian real estate mogul Sylvan Adams, who moved to Israel two years ago and is the event’s driving force, financed most of the rest of the cost of the event on his own.
“Sylvan visited Pope Francis and gave him a letter from Prime Minister Netanyahu, and got his blessing for the route to go from Jerusalem to Rome,” said Regev. “We are asking everyone, from the grandparents to the kids, to come cheer the riders on. This is a-once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
The logistics surrounding the programme for the race are immense, from the media’s 600 international journalists and 70 TV crews – with 25 cameras broadcasting live feeds during the races – to the 1 200 technical staff assisting the teams and 4 000 police officers providing security and logistics along the routes.
Major highways and roads will be closed during the race. Residents are encouraged to check the Giro d’Italia official site for road closure updates or call the police information line.
Adam said it is his “proudest moment in Israel” to see the Giro get off the ground. The purpose of bringing the Giro’s start to Israel was twofold, he said: to introduce Israel’s culture and geography to the world, and to encourage the growth of a local cycling culture.
Last year, 840 million people watched some portion of the Giro d’Italia on TV, and this year the number is expected to reach a billion, according to Danny Benaim, CEO of Comtec Group, which is the production company in charge of the Big Start Israel event and has overseen other major sporting events in Israel. In contrast, the Super Bowl – the annual championship game of the National Football League – had 114 million viewers.
On Tuesday, Tel Aviv dedicated the Sylvan Adams National Velodrome, a NIS 70 million (R245 million) indoor cycling track financed mostly by Adams. Adams said that while he loves the sport of cycling, he also hopes to encourage non-professional cycling in Israel.
“In the 1950s, Amsterdam had no cycling infrastructure, but they made a decision that they wanted to encourage people to use bikes for commuting,” said Adams. “Tel Aviv has tried to create a cycling path infrastructure that is safe, and I have helped with that.”
Adams said he is trying to push a plan of bike paths connecting municipalities outside of Tel Aviv such as Bat Yam, Petah Tikvah and Holon. “Commuters can leave their car at home, get to their destination faster and be healthier, and decongest our roads,” he said.
“We hope Israel makes a decision to invest in the sport of cycling both professionally and for regular riders.”
Regev said the culture and sport ministry plans to invest NIS 16 million (R56 million) in bike paths and improving bike infrastructure across the country in the coming years, though she acknowledged Israel still has a way to go towards making cyclists feel safe. Individual municipalities, in both the centre and the periphery, can also apply for grants from the ministry to build bike paths.
“We put a lot of money on this to encourage more and more people to use bikes, not just to avoid traffic but also to ride for fun and health,” she said. (Times of Israel)
